A Look Back and Forth
Paul Zimmerman has been covering the
NFL for Sports Illustrated since 1979. His exclusive online
column appears each
Thursday.
Posted: Thu September 4,
1997
One satellite dish, three TV sets, three VCRs
... each loyally pulling its weight, and each dutifully tuned
to an
NFL game. That setup makes it possible for me to watch eight
complete NFL games, which
I did over the course of last weekend. That was only half the
fun. Afterward, I charted every play
of every game. Some people tell me I'm not all there, but who
cares? What better way to spend a Sunday afternoon, Sunday
night, Monday, and Monday night? And part of Tuesday.
O.K., here's some of what I saw and what lies
ahead:
Kansas
City-Denver
What I
saw: New wideouts for the Chiefs, same old formula. Hand it
off, dump it off to the fullback, Kimble Anders, tell your
quarterback not to screw it up. Uh-uh, that's not going to
work against a high-powered offense like Denver's. You've
got to match the
Broncos in striking power
... or at least
try to. Denver cashed in on Terrell Davis, who slashed through
the Chiefs on counters and traps. Next time, it'll be John
Elway who'll be lighting it up. I believe the Broncos are
what's called
multidimensional.
What lies
ahead: The Chiefs will upset Oakland on the Coast on Monday
night. They will run the ball. The Raiders will try to but
won't. A healthier Derrick Thomas will be the difference
for K.C. Careful, though. The Raiders, traditionally, are a
very tough Monday
night team at home. The Broncos will suffer a slight letdown
against Seattle in the Kingdome, but that mass-confusion
zone defense the Hawks put up against the Jets will be
tailor-made for
Elway.
New York
Jets-Seattle
What I
saw:
Easy pickin's for Neil O'Donnell, but the focal point of
the Jets' offense was Adrian Murrell and the perimeter
running game, loading up with two, sometimes three tight
ends. That look reminded me a lot of the formation Bill
Parcells operated with his
first Giants' Super Bowl team: Joe Morris running the edges,
tight end Mark Bavaro blocking down. Now Parcells has
another Bavaro—Kyle Brady, who doesn't catch 'em like old
number 89 did, but who can stand up a defensive end at the
point and who can
collapse a linebacker, as he did to both Chad Brown and Winston
Moss.
What lies
ahead: The Jets will beat Buffalo, but it'll be a struggle.
Parcells knows he has to run it against a superior
pass-rushing team like the Bills. Marv Levy knows it too.
Hey, my
wife knows it. Look for an orgy of multiple-formations, with
god knows what coming out of
them.
 Buffalo-Minnesota
What I
saw:
Calling Chris Spielman, come in Chris Spielman. The Bills'
middle linebacker always has been sturdy against the run,
but he was caught out of position way too many times.
Robert Smith's 78-yarder broke the deal. Until then it was
anybody's game.
What lies
ahead:
The Vikings will lose to the Bears in Chicago. That's just
a hunch, based on the high emotion the Bears displayed in
the Monday nighter against the Pack.
Chicago-Green
Bay
What I
saw:
The Bears hung in and played extremely tough against a
Packers team that should have been jacked up but wasn't. It
came down to the fact that Chicago just couldn't match the
Pack in quality players. Now two of them are lost to
injury, cornerback Craig
Newsome and tight end Mark
Chmura.
What lies
ahead: Tyrone Williams, Newsome's sub, is active and aggressive.
He should hold up O.K. But there's a big drop-off at tight
end with Jeff Thomason. Brett Favre's habit of starting a
game in a fog is getting to be no laughing matter. I like
the Pack against
Philly in the Vet, only because the Eagles' quarterback
situation is so
shaky.
Philadelphia-New York
Giants
What I
saw:
Ty Detmer began the season as he left off in '96, on a
downer. Rodney Peete came in and nearly won it. In fact the
Eagles were on their way to winning the thing until the
Giants ran a double-linebacker blitz at
them.... Ricky Watters decides to turn out instead of turning in,
Corey Widmer, the inside blitzer, gets in Peete's face, Sam
Garnes picks off the pass and runs it back the length of
the field. Game
over.
What lies
ahead: The Jaguars will crush the Giants down south. Despite all
Jim Fassel's work with Dave Brown, Brown reverted to form.
He looked fine early, but couldn't get anything done when
things were on the line. Jacksonville will zone blitz Brown
like crazy, and
I don't think New York's O-line will be able to handle
it.
Dallas-Pittsburgh
What
I saw:
Pittsburgh's zone blitz gave the Cowboys trouble at first.
The first three series were three-and-out. Then Dallas
figured out how to get it blocked, and The Troy
Aikman-Michael Irvin Show took the stage. The Steelers gave
Dallas a little taste of Jerome
Bettis early, but they weren't relentless, and Kordell
Stewart started spraying his passes. He seemed confused
against a defense that occasionally dropped eight men back.
The hunt was
over.
What lies
ahead:
The Cowboys will win in
Arizona—ZZZZZ—but not if they decide to take the afternoon off. The
Steelers, loading up heavily with Bettis, will beat the
Redskins, who are weak up the gut. The Panthers' Anthony
Johnson smacked it to the Skins last week, and Bettis will
do worse. Stewart remains
a mystery, but so does Washington quarterback Gus Frerotte.
What's wrong with him? He's uncertain on his delivery and
shaky on his reads. Tailback Terry Allen carried the load
last week, but now he's most likely out with a broken
thumb, I can't see
Frerotte beating a defense that will be in a nasty mood after
being blown out by
Dallas.
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